Is Los Angeles Fast Paced?

I was warned before I came to Houston, before I came to the South. The warnings were valid.

There’s a guy at my job about the same age as me. We are both Veterans though he joined the Navy. We both spent significant time in the Los Angeles area and are now both in Houston. He’s from here and I’m from there. We’ve shared stories and he speaks of LA and his adventures there fondly. It surprised me to find out that while he loved LA, he’s never going back except maybe to visit.

I visited New York once. It was interesting and exciting but I was never comfortable there. There seemed to be some pressure to be on all the time, like some kind of hyper vigilance. It wouldn’t go away, even at night. It seemed to make my heart pump faster and it was hard to relax. Over time I got used to it somewhat but I never felt fully relaxed and overall I didn’t like that feeling. Perhaps I could have gotten over it if I had stayed longer but at this time, I don’t think I could live there.

My co-worker feels that way about LA which is hard for me to see as that is the pace I’m used to. It never really occurred to me that LA is fast paced but I guess when you’re from the South…